The School of Tomorrow
by trailtest
Summary: Elsword has been forced with a once in a lifetime opportunity to enroll in Elder's most prestigious tech institution along with his sister, Elesis. Problem: he has no academic aptitude at all. Can he survive the year?
1. Orientation

Elsword didn't belong here.

He knew that ever since he laid eyes on on his peers. Glasses, gadgets, and gizmos were commonplace, while the patronizing atmosphere made his throat constrict just a little more. It was to be expected, of course, being in Elder's most prestigious school's orientation. Elysium Academy received many applications from far away lands - even continents - to take part in the education of the research and creation of cutting edge technology.

Most of the accepted were prodigious in their own right. Aisha Landar was one, splashing the headlines through contributing to a large part of Elder's new homing missile technology. Elsword glanced at the head of neat, short purple hair, with matching, violet eyes locked earnestly on Headmaster Wally approaching the podium. She definitely was at home there, where her smarts and talents would flourish. Maybe she would end up killing off the demons in the next decade with some big red button.

The rest of the students were related to an influential person. Royalty, war heroes, and former alumni, most likely. Chung Seiker, son of Hamel's guardian, was seated next to the red headed boy. His feminine features coupled with his youthful face made him appear to be even younger. Elsword wondered if the Seiker family faked his age for an early admission.

Elsword Sieghart was also related to someone famous. Elesis Sieghart, master of the sword, famed for once slaying a hundred demons laying siege on her wounded comrades. He supposed that was why he was there, despite his mediocre (by Elesis' standards) swordsmanship and abysmal grades. Not that he deserved it, anyways.

Elsword felt a light squeeze on his hand. He turned to to see Elesis smiling in reassurance. _You'll be fine_ , she mouthed, comforting him.

Headmaster Wally, dressed in his signature tacky, striped suit, approached the podium in the center of the stage. Despite his short, stocky stature and comical appearance, silence filled the room as his footsteps thundered towards the microphone. No one would dare disrespect the leader of the best academy in Elrios.

"Welcome, students, to Elysium Academy - the school of tomorrow," he boomed.

* * *

Despite Elesis' reassurances, Elsword did _not_ feel better after the mentally exhausting, comprehensive orientation speech given by Wally. Particle accela - what chambers? Subcutaneous (the Hell?) nanobot manufacturing facility? Only the live, practical testing grounds made sense to the boy, but his stomach dropped when he morbidly wondered if anyone living was stranded in the middle of it. How could he even survive when he didn't know what half the words meant?

The sibling pair walked towards the dorms, eyes exploring the creamy white, ancient buildings juxtaposing the academy's scientific focus. Elsword caught his sister's frown.

"What?" he questioningly stared at Elesis.

"I know you're feeling scared of all the smart stuff everyone's doing," replied Elesis, shifting her eyes to the ground, "I'm in the same boat."

"Then why the _h_ _ell_ are we here?" exclaimed Elsword, "We could've spent our time training, maybe even destroying a few demon camps together! Not learning Pythaga-who's theorem or whatever."

"Connections, Els, connections," she gritted her teeth, "You and I might be good knights, but we're nothing without the support of a few rich and powerful friends."

Before Elsword could reply with certain expletives towards said hypothetical friends, the two approached the dorms. Four white, gleaming stone behemoths faced them, adorned with carved columns and gaping, mahogany doors. Elsword realized each grade shared one building, so his sister wouldn't even be in the same dorm.

"Cya, Elsword," waved Elesis, walking towards the far right dormitory with a gold plated "4", "And don't you _dare_ play League 'till five in the morning! It's the first day of school tomorrow!"

* * *

Elesis' first encounter with her roommate started off with her brain nearly fried by a ball of electricity as she walked through the door.

Luckily, her honed reflexes allowed her to dive out of the way and prevent her from becoming well done. The projectile itself exploded in the hall, releasing tendrils of electricity with a deafening _Zap_ _!_.

"Holy _shit_!" she swore, glaring at a chrome, mechanical tripod nestled on a bed table across the room. Likely the source of the attack, due to tendrils of smoke swirling from its lifeless, green lens. The red head's eyes switched to the taller, humanoid being crisscrossed on a indigo draped bed to her left. The humanoid stared back with - her, presumably - blank, golden eyes. A cerulean gem took the place of her forehead, lightly covered with wisps of snow white hair. She apathetically shrugged in response.

"My apologies. Demy is slightly trigger happy towards new guests." the mysterious girl said, her voice infused with a metallic tinge. She then turned to work on her jade eyed creation, leaving no sign of concern towards the red head sprawled on the carpet. She was, clearly, apologetic.

"Slightly trigger happy," Elesis echoed in disbelief, "Slightly."

"I will fix Demy soon. There is a high chance it will not occur again," the white haired girl replied, resuming to fix 'Demy',

"Right."

"For your clarification: Demy will succeed in damaging its programmed target in the future."

And with that, Headmaster Wally managed to witness a new record of two students within his office within half an hour of orientation.

* * *

"Hello."

As the Elsword entered his room, he was met with a person his age, cross legged on the bed, with messy, grey hair outlining his head turned towards the boy. Golden, triangular earrings twinkled on on his ears, as a soft, innocent smile played on the grey haired boy's lips.

Elsword could swear that the person's jade eyes pierced his soul, causing a brief shiver to course through Elsword's back. Hairs stood straight on the knight's neck. Elsword may not have believed in a sixth sense, but he was pretty sure that, now, his instincts urged him to _run_.

"The fuck are you?" asked Elsword. Rudely, sure, but the fact that someone _stalked_ _and stared until someone entered the room_ warranted it.

"I am your roommate, Ainchase Weiss. Please, call me Ain," he said softly, smiling that child-like-yet-really-disturbing grin again, "I've been waiting for you, Elsword Sieghart."


	2. Half Mast

Besides the world renowned education and state of the art research facilities Elysium Academy was known for, it also boasted luxury hot springs, fine dining, and several licensed masseuses. Headmaster Wally reasoned that stress had to be released in healthy ways, and provided the means to do so. It was more of a PR move than genuine care for the students, plus an alluring perk for all school faculty members, Wally included.

A Headmaster's work was exhausting. Between managing the many eccentric teachers and dealing with rich and influential parents, Wally could hardly scrape together enough time to hastily eat breakfast and bathe for the day. Being the Headmaster of Elysium additionally dropped the tasks of organizing security and charming political figures for research grants on him. It was a miracle that his impressive hair didn't shed away from the stress.

He had scheduled a brief reprieve from his rigorous routine after the orientation, planning to soak in the mineral spring waters and enjoy a succulent meal of fattened phoru liver later. Unfortunately, just as he was about to leave his office, Bethma PMC's Commander Stella roughly shoved two students through the door.

"'Love 'em already," she snarled in her signature, gruff voice, "Caught 'em in a scuffle in their rooms while on patrol. Didn't even have the decency to close the door."

Time wasted on doling out consequences meant time wasted on what little free time he had. He lazily slapped two days of detention on the main offender - Eve - and one on Elesis for further escalating the fight. He expected Elesis' protests and internally sighed. Headmaster Wally was getting irritated, an itch inching up towards his brain.

Luckily, years of mingling with political elites let no emotion - let alone petty annoyance - to slip through his old features. A minor altercation would not be the event that caused him to snap. Unfortunately, he was face to face with the leader of the Red Knights, notoriously known to fight until her idea of justice won.

"She tried to kill me, and you're giving her a slap on the wrist?" Elesis jabbed a finger towards her stoic, golden eyed roommate. If the girl felt anything towards the accusation, she didn't show it. "I didn't know Elysium Academy harbored murderers," Elesis spat in disgust.

"I am not a murderer," said Eve. No emotion lingered in her rebuttal.

"Not yet," muttered Elesis.

"Miss Sieghart," Wally coughed, ignoring the previous discourse, "Bear in mind that there's no concrete evidence towards the fact that Eve here maliciously targeted you with her creation, besides your word. Accidents happen more than we'd like to admit, and we believe that experiencing failures is the key to improvement."

"This is the kind of justice Elysium has? Where innocent people with bright futures get written off on some insurance paperwork, then tossed in the trash? I knew this place was competitive, but letting students kill others is on another level," she paused, then grinned slyly, edges of her lips slightly curling upwards. "It would sure be a shame if the parents learned of the extra risk their kid has here."

Wally slipped, he knew. Old age addled the once sharp political reflexes that kept him in power. Despite usually having full discretion of decisions pertaining to the academy, Elesis turned the tables, evening the negotiation. A bead of sweat trickled down the Headmaster's forehead. On one hand, dealing with outcries of the _highly_ competitive nature of the school was undesirable. On the other hand… ensuring Eve and her patron's cooperation would accelerate Nasod related research by tenfold.

After a short pause, body language barely letting the threat faze himself, Wally had decided. "We won't need to delve into such extremes, Miss Sieghart. I have changed my mind - I will see to Eve's punishment personally within the week. I dearly hope that not a word of this conversation is uttered to anyone else. Elysium does care about our student's privacy, after all."

Elesis hesitantly nodded. Her burning sense of justice was mostly extinguished with the proposal, leaving only the smoldering resentment towards the Headmaster's nonchalant attitude towards "accidental" injuries. It was, at least, huge step forward from sweeping the altercation under the rug, supposed Elesis.

"Headmaster, I also request a room change. She - Eve - is dangerous to be around. I won't spend my year wondering when the next ambush's gonna happen to me _from my own roommate_." Hardly a request, more like a demand. With Wally's position, he wasn't in a position to refuse.

"Fair enough," he sighed. "It will take at least a week to transfer rooms. Room assignments are delicate, mind you. It will be a paperwork nightmare, but if it it's for one of my pupils, it is worth it. Please take precaution in the meantime."

Elesis could nearly see the lies slithering out of the old man's teeth, snakes glinting with malice. By now, she knew he didn't give a damn about his students besides the money brought in by parents and research grants, most likely. She felt a pit of disgust welling in her stomach by her blackmail, but it was worth it to stick it in a corrupt man like Wally.

"And I want my little brother, Elsword Sieghart, kept safe. He's not gonna survive the classes, much less with watching his back every second." Elesis was stretching the offer of Wally's generosity - they both knew. Eve watched, a spark of something briefly flickering in her eyes. "If he gets hurt…"

"Of course." he agreed. He stared at the red headed woman, challenging another demand to be uttered. A sufficient pause passed, signalling the end of the negotiation. The Headmaster gestured towards the door. "I assume that our business here is finished. You are both dismissed."

Elesis stood. She stared down at the Headmaster with a mix of contempt and distrust before exiting the office. Tossing a wary glance behind, she tensed for a millisecond at the porcelain skinned girl following.

The door slammed shut, leaving the Headmaster alone with his thoughts. Wally bought himself a week to deal with a loose end - and an influential one at that. Elder's government would have no problem believing the words of the leader of the Red Knights, while he was sure that Eve would withdraw her cooperation at any mention of discipline. Unfortunately, only two known sentient nasods existed in Elrios. Wally would not - could not - make do without nasod aid. He would have to hope that the red haired knight didn't divulge to much of the conversation's details to outsiders. Luckily, a safe gamble on her strong sense of honor would bite her in the back.

* * *

 _oh El, elesis, please help me_

Elesis' Elysium branded phone buzzed, signaling the retrieval of a text. All students at Elysium received one from the numerous uniformed staff at the end of orientation. Elesis didn't know why the school gave out phones, especially when the majority wouldn't bat an eye at the price of the newest gadget on the market. She dismissed the thought as she read the message. Likely Elsword, she supposed, he was the only one who got her number.

 _what's up? you ok?_ replied Elesis. A sinking feeling enveloped her stomach. Thoughts racing, she raced through possibilities. Was he in danger? If he was, what overpowered him? Why? Or was it Wally? Did he seriously decide to betray me so soon? She was interrupted by a reassuring vibration. Visibly relaxing, she read his reply.

 _got this creepy af roommate. calls himself ain._

At least this 'Ain' wasn't a murderer. She hoped.

 _hes trying to look at my phone rn_

 _call and pretend to be my friend or smth to get me out_

Elesis wasn't sure how a call would help get rid of a creeper, but she obliged. She was pretty sure Elsword's phone didn't even get to ring before he picked up.

"Hey," she said, "Meet me at the gym? It's two blocks north of the dorms."

"Hell, _yes_ ," Elsword emphasized the last word. He nearly tripped over his last words, clearly desperate to escape, "Cyasisbye!"

Elesis frowned at the beeping phone as it's connection cut. What exactly scared Elsword of even a proper goodbye? She briefly wondered if she was shepherded into a trap, like a lamb to a slaughter.

"I estimate that Headmaster Wally has less than a quarter of a chance of betraying you this early."

Elesis jumped at the voice. The voice with a soft, metallic tinge that revealed no emotion. Eve. She caught the shorter girl staring at the phone, a few feet behind. She had forgotten about her presence after learning of Elsword's predicament, and Elesis internally smacked herself for failing to follow rule number two of the Red Knights.

"And you plan to?" Elesis reflexively reached towards her waist. Grasping air, she silently cursed the academy. Damn the school and their restrictive weapons policy!

Eve made what could've been interpreted as a sigh and shook her head. "As I have stated before, I am not a murderer. What occurred in our domicile was a malfunction. Demy should not have attacked you in the first place."

But it still did, Elesis itched to point out. However, Eve's dubious analysis before piqued her curiosity. "Then why are you helping me?"

"I am also skeptical of the Headmaster. Your fate determines my evaluation of him, and I doubt he would abuse my trust so soon."

"So you're using me as bait."

"Yes."

Elesis didn't like the idea of being used as a test for Wally's integrity, much less for Eve. She didn't have much of a choice, though. Elsword was waiting, under duress or not. She turned to leave towards the gym.


End file.
